Industry drills deep to improve production

Big data, artificial intelligence make their way to company operations

By Mella McEwen mmcewen@mrt.com, Midland Reporter-Telegram

Updated 12:16 am, Sunday, April 2, 2017

Photo: Baker Hughes

Image 1of/2

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 2

‘Big data’, ‘deep learning’ and artificial intelligence are in the process of transforming upstream operations. Oil field equipment such as Baker Hughes’ new TerrAdapt smart bit can sense rock types and act to protect the bit’s cutters, and Nabors’ iRacker drilling system uses robotics to piece together and insert steel pipe underground to build wells.

‘Big data’, ‘deep learning’ and artificial intelligence are in the process of transforming upstream operations. Oil field equipment such as Baker Hughes’ new TerrAdapt smart bit can sense rock types and act to protect the bit’s cutters, and Nabors’ iRacker drilling system uses robotics to piece together and insert steel pipe underground to build wells.

Permian Basin operators are drilling deep and long — laterals — in order to recover more of the region’s crude and natural gas.

They’re also going deep — as in deep learning — as part of those efforts.

High-tech advances such as big data, deep learning and artificial intelligence are increasingly finding their ways into upstream exploration and production operations. For example, Exxon Mobil Corp. recently set a record for high performance computing for reservoir simulation.

Big data

Technological advances have created a wide spectrum of data for operators that goes far beyond well logs, seismic surveys and pressure readings.

More from Oil Report

“(It’s) massive amounts of data generated by different methods,” said Susan Nash, director of education and professional development with the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. “It’s so massive it’s contained in the cloud and other ways of organizing the data.”

That data can come in structured form, as in databases, or in unstructured forms, as in emails or PDFs, anything that can be digitized, she said.

Discussing these developments in Midland recently with members of the Permian Basin section, SEPM, Nash said she was asked by several attendees how they could adapt and begin implementing these advances.

“These are not just concepts but actual tools and applications being used,” she told the Reporter-Telegram after the meeting.

The ability to store, access and process data across a wide spectrum and have almost instantaneous access at low cost can impact upstream operations.

Nash said that data also can be used to identify opportunities from “botched” shale plays or “botched” enhanced oil recovery projects.

“In the Delaware, in the Wolfcamp shale, they’re drilling horizontally and doing well. They have six or seven years of experience. But for someone who really wants to do well, why not go back to the shale play and see what was botched?” she said.

“Especially for one or two operators who didn’t have enough experience, look at the data from the point of view of what went wrong, but use that massive data to see where the sweet spots are, see where the formation damage is,” she said.

Deep learning and artificial intelligence

Once operators have identified those opportunities, Nash advises using technology such as geosteering to eliminate errors and identify and avoid obstacles and then use technology such as smart bits to drill wells.

“At the end of it all, after 24 months, you have a plan to refracture the well using what you’ve learned” using technology such as smart proppants that change size and surface tension in response to downhole pressures and temperatures, and smart oil field chemicals she said.

Other technology includes self-driving drill bits and “responsive” pumps that learn how to best optimize production through sensors that are tied to performance history.

But before beginning to implement these advances, she offered some advice.

“Before committing to certain tools, be willing and able to work through the workflow -- do the planning first and make sure you have the team in place to analyze and utilize the tools,” she said.

She also stressed that these teams must be multidisciplinary.

As illustrated by the inquiries she received after her presentation, the oil patch is embracing these advances, she said.

“People are used to thinking it’s a conservative industry. But this is an intensely technology-driven industry,” she said.